Political risks abound in fight over contraceptives rule

By Susan Davis, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON
–
Republicans in Congress are exerting their legislative muscle to fight the Obama administration's recent ruling to require religion-affiliated employers to expand health insurance plans to cover women's contraceptives, but the confrontation risks alienating crucial voting blocs in an election year in which voters continue to care more about the economy than social issues.

Sponsored Links

Republicans contend their opposition is not rooted in a woman's ability to access birth control, but in the government's right to mandate religious-affiliated employers, such as Catholic hospitals, to cover contraceptives if it violates their faith.

Democrats are casting the debate as a women's health issue that involves gender equality, not a religious debate, because the American public is not divided about the use of contraceptives. A Pew poll released Tuesday showed just 8% of Americans believe contraception to be morally wrong.

"If government comes in and forces a religious entity to invoke a policy against their religious affiliation, I think that's a slippery slope," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. "I think that for a lot of women, they know what's going on, and it is government trying to overrun the church and they don't like that. They like having those religious liberties."

A CNN poll released Thursday backs up Blackburn: Half of all Americans aware of the ruling said they oppose it, while 44% support it. However, nearly 40% of those polled said they had not heard about the dispute, which means both parties have room in which to define the debate for a large swath of the public.

By Alex Wong, Getty Images

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., has introduced an amendment that would permit health insurance companies to refuse services that are contrary to the religious beliefs of employers.

Republicans in Congress intend to keep the debate going when lawmakers return from a week-long Presidents Day recess. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a hearing on the legality of the administration's mandate, and the Senate is expected to vote on an amendment by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., to circumvent the Obama ruling by allowing health insurance companies to refuse services that violate religious beliefs of employers.

The ruling puts Obama and the Democratic Party at risk of alienating Catholic voters, who made up 27% of the electorate in 2008. A majority, 55%, of Catholics believe that religious-affiliated organizations should be given an exception to the rule, according to the Pew poll. Obama won the Catholic vote in 2008 by 9 points over Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., but he lost or tied for the Catholic vote in swing states with high Catholic populations, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.

There is concern within the GOP that the party risks alienating voters if the religious liberty debate is inextricably linked with a debate over women's access to contraceptives.

"[Democrats] have done a very good job about making it about contraception," said Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo. "From a policy perspective, I think the Republican Party is correct on the religious-freedom part and it's not about contraception." Emerson said the party could be better served to accept the ruling and focus on more pressing issues. "I think getting the president to compromise on [the ruling] was a significant victory, and people should embrace it and move on," she said.

Women make up a larger percentage of the electorate, tend to vote more often for Democrats and broadly support contraceptive coverage. According to 2008 exit poll data, women cast 53% of the vote to men's 47%, and they favored Obama by 13 points.

Democrats, particularly female lawmakers, are encouraging a fight because they believe the politics fall on their side. On Friday, a group of female senators occupied the Senate floor to highlight two events on the issue this week: a House Oversight Committee panel hearing featuring five men who testified against the administration on whether the contraceptive mandate violates the First Amendment, and a highly publicized comment by Foster Friess, a wealthy donor to Rick Santorum's presidential campaign.

On MSNBC Thursday Friess said: "Back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn't that costly."

Santorum, who is Catholic and currently leading in national polls for the GOP presidential nomination, disassociated himself from the comment. However, the debate has highlighted Santorum's previous statements that have questioned the morality of contraception use.

Republicans noted that the House Oversight panel also heard testimony from two women on a separate panel. They opposed the administration's ruling.

"It was shocking. It was appalling. It was an insult to women everywhere," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who runs the Senate Democrats' campaign operation and is in charge of the party's strategy to maintain control of the chamber, which includes turning out female voters. "In fact, both of these stories are enough to make any woman, regardless of their own politics, very angry."

On Friday, the House Democrats' campaign operation used the Oversight hearing to make a plea to donors, suggesting that Republicans do not respect women. "If Republicans won't allow women to the table to discuss women's health care issues, we need a new table," read the e-mail solicitation. A petition led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., calling for a woman to be at the table for any future discussion on the contraceptive ruling gathered 150,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.

"I don't understand why Republican leaders think this is a good way for them to go," said Margie Omero, a Democratic pollster, who cited a Feb. 13 CBS/New York Times poll that showed just one subgroup, Republican men, were a majority in opposing a federal requirement for private health insurance to cover contraceptive costs. In contrast, independent women voters support it 71%-25%.

"Does it help motivate the base? The anti-birth-control, Republican male base, for sure," Omero said.

The administration ruling has injected social issues into a national debate that has been largely dominated by economic concerns since Obama won in 2008, but polling indicates that those issues are still the top priority for voters. In the CBS/NYT poll, 44% said jobs and the economy were their most pressing concerns.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted | Updated

USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines.